The Guggenheim is opening its doors for free on October 30th to celebrate the completion of the museum's restoration, which has been going on for years. The centerpiece of the celebration will be illuminated text on the Frank Lloyd Wright facade, a specially commissioned work of art by Jenny Holzer (which has actually been on display since September). Oh, and, the Museum Café will offer a free cookie with the purchase of any entrée on the day of the celebration. more ›

Recently, there's been a bit of opposition ot the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's World Trade Center Memorial design, which was selected over two years ago, with the main complaints being that the memorial was partly subterranean. Now the LMDC has issued a letter to the complaining families saying that memorial will be built as planned, as construction will begin next month.. The Post received a letter, which has LMDC president Stefan Pryor explaining that when letters about the memorial design were sent to 5,000 family members in 2004, only 400 forms were returned and only one mentioned the "below grade" location. (We wonder if the families would, in turn, say that the forms were not very clear.) Pryor's letter also included the thought, "While we understand that, as is inevitable in a process of this complexity, some of you may still disagree with choices that have been made, those choices were made in good faith." Gothamist still doesn't know how to feel about the WTC Memorial design - it has changed significantly, in order to meet other development issues, since it's initial presentation. The unfortunate thing is that usually people only know how they feel about physical spaces until they are built - we're thinking about the opposition to the Vietnam War Memorial during the pre-construction period. more ›

Anne Pasternak,
Executive Director,
Creative Time more ›

There's a very cool article in the NY Times about the "kinetic, interactive stainless-steel wall" being designed for 7 World Trade Center. Because the base of 7 WTC is a Con Ed substation, architect David Childs is sheathing it in glass, and has worked with James Carpenter Design Associates to design a sort of sculptural installation: There are panels of prisms that will cause pedestrian's reflections to move along the wall. Gothamist loves the idea of capturing the movement of people walking during their day; one of our favorite things is seeing people cross the walkways in the windows of Grand Central. Plus, inside the lobby will be a "floor-to-ceiling, 14-by-70-foot wall of acid-etched translucent glass illuminated by whitish light-emitting diodes, created by Mr. Carpenter and the artist Jenny Holzer." Who knows when Freedom Tower will be built (yes, Daniel Libeskind, we read your Op-Ed last week) but there will be 7 WTC, which has gone really fast...and it's really tall. more ›